question for those booked w/a guarantee

[kevinsmom]

My family and i are going on the Crown Princess Aug 25th. we have 5 cabins in all, each one was booked w/a balcony guarantee. three of us were upgraded four categories and the other was upgraded two. however, the 5th cabin has yet to receive a cabin assignment. now i know there is still some time before we sail, but i just find it odd that 4 of us were placed almost 2 months ago and the 5th room is still out in limbo. i check the personalizer every day...to no avail. the room is for my parents, my mother called princess customer service and they said that the cabin assignments are done in no specific order. i was just wondering if there are still people out there who are sailing around when we are and have not rec'vd a cabin assignement. and i was wondering if anyone can tell me who sailed in the past w/a guarantee....how late they received a cabin assignment??

thanks, gina

[gabelle]

It has been a couple of years, and it was on HAL, not Princess, but we did not get our cabin until we checked in at the pier. I had been checking daily the availability of cabins, so I knew vaguely what was available. The cabin they assigned us was unacceptable, and since I knew the ship was not booked, asked for another. Ended up with a fine location.

[skarletohara]

With Princess, we've done guarantees a few times. We've waited

2 weeks to get an assignment, and we've received assignments a week

after FINAL payment, and on one cruise we didn't get a cabin

assignment until just 10 days before.

[Coral]

Once I had a cabin assignment 3 days before the sailing.....

[chrysalis]

we once got our room when we arrived at the pier and found out via the porter who had the masterlist.

[Bowie MeMe]

We once had a guaranteed category on Princess for the Norway fjiords and because we usually do a week pre-cruise heard nothing before we flew to Europe. I called and complained every day for the five days before we left and they finally put us someplace to shut me up :( but it was not the upgrade I expected so therefore I was a little unhappy. I decided that I am just not the guarantee type personality and I now decide on the cabin and location I want and pay for it. Much less stress!

The reason they give a lower price for a guarantee is that they have more control over where they put you -- can assign at the last minute in case someone willing to pay top dollar for space appears. Sort of like "Deal or No Deal" sometimes you get fantastic othertimes you only get exactly what you paid for. I just didn't like the wait and the disappointment feeling when they assigned a room that was not an upgrade.

[Pam in CA]

We once had a guaranteed category on Princess for the Norway fjiords and because we usually do a week pre-cruise heard nothing before we flew to Europe. I called and complained every day for the five days before we left and they finally put us someplace to shut me up :( but it was not the upgrade I expected so therefore I was a little unhappy. I decided that I am just not the guarantee type personality and I now decide on the cabin and location I want and pay for it. Much less stress!

The reason they give a lower price for a guarantee is that they have more control over where they put you -- can assign at the last minute in case someone willing to pay top dollar for space appears. Sort of like "Deal or No Deal" sometimes you get fantastic othertimes you only get exactly what you paid for. I just didn't like the wait and the disappointment feeling when they assigned a room that was not an upgrade.

I'm confused by this. When you book a guarantee, you're guaranteed ONLY the category that you've booked, not an upgrade. If you expected an upgrade, then you're right -- a guarantee isn't for you.

[Casshew]

but it was not the upgrade I expected so therefore I was a little unhappy.

 

What made you expect an upgrade? What did you book and what were you expecting?

[Lynda90]

What made you expect an upgrade? What did you book and what were you expecting?

Yes, why did you expect an upgrade? Also, guarantee cabins within a certain category do not cost more or less than other cabins within the same category. So, not sure what you were referring to when you talked about lower cost of guarantee.

[critterchick]

We have only booked guarantees twice - once on RCI when we booked late and that was all we could get - we ended up in a corner cabin on the stern that spoiled us for life! We're currently holding an AB guarantee on the Diamond repo in 2007, and I don't expect a cabin assignment until at least final payment. Although we got a killer deal, it wasn't any less expensive than booking an actual cabin.

 

When booking a guarantee, never book a cabin in a category less than what you'd be happy in, and never EXPECT an upgrade. If you get one, it's icing on the cake, but odds are that you won't.

[causeyoutdoor]

I booked 2 cabins on the CB on Sunday, paid for them on Monday and my TA called Princess yesterday and today and we got 6 cat upgrade and the 2 cabins are side by side mid ship. Bug your TA to do their job for you!

[Pam in CA]

I booked 2 cabins on the CB on Sunday, paid for them on Monday and my TA called Princess yesterday and today and we got 6 cat upgrade and the 2 cabins are side by side mid ship. Bug your TA to do their job for you!

This is another fallacy. TAs don't assign or get upgrades. If they claim to, then they have taken credit for which it isn't due.

[bjboothman]

We once had a guaranteed category on Princess for the Norway fjiords and because we usually do a week pre-cruise heard nothing before we flew to Europe. I called and complained every day for the five days before we left and they finally put us someplace to shut me up :( but it was not the upgrade I expected so therefore I was a little unhappy. I decided that I am just not the guarantee type personality and I now decide on the cabin and location I want and pay for it. Much less stress!

The reason they give a lower price for a guarantee is that they have more control over where they put you -- can assign at the last minute in case someone willing to pay top dollar for space appears. Sort of like "Deal or No Deal" sometimes you get fantastic othertimes you only get exactly what you paid for. I just didn't like the wait and the disappointment feeling when they assigned a room that was not an upgrade.

 

Honestly, I am sorry you were disappointed but I find this whole response sort of amusing. Anyone who books a guarantee EXPECTING an upgrade is likely to be very disappointed. I'll bet you play the slots a lot too ;) .

[kevinsmom]

thanks for all the replies!! i guess there is just no way to know when they will assign the cabin. i guess i just found it strange that three of us were assigned on the same day and then the fourth one, who booked two months later, was assigned immediately after booking! and still my parents wait! well, i just hope they at least get a room at this point...i joke that they may be sleeping out on the decks :)

thanks, gina

[causeyoutdoor]

This is no tall tale Pam. Our friends that are traveling with us called their TA after we got our cabin assignments and requested their cabin be near us. And 45 minutes later they had a cabin 6 rooms down on the same side. Good TAs will not sit by until Princess "gets around" to making a room assignment. Both the TAs on our trip (different cities, different agencies, absolutely no connection to each other) were pro-active and got us good rooms for our guarantee.

[JLC@SD]

This is no tall tale Pam. Our friends that are traveling with us called their TA after we got our cabin assignments and requested their cabin be near us. And 45 minutes later they had a cabin 6 rooms down on the same side. Good TAs will not sit by until Princess "gets around" to making a room assignment. Both the TAs on our trip (different cities, different agencies, absolutely no connection to each other) were pro-active and got us good rooms for our guarantee.

 

We have traveled with my brother and his wife and we have requested cabins together or nearby. On our last trip we were upgraded to consecutively numbered cabins but they were on opposite sides of the ship. We called our TA and she had the cabins changed to adjacent cabins within a few minutes......;)

[tareed]

We had a guarantee on our balcony & got our assignment about 1 month before sailing. However we booked an inside guarantee for our children & we did not receive their assignment until day before sailing. they as us were upgraded 4 categories.

tami

[kevinsmom]

so i checked this morning and my parents finally have a room :) however, it is Caribe 101...which is the very last room in the front of the ship. do you think they will have any problems w/motion and such being so foward? has anyone else been in a room like that and liked it?

thanks, gina

[causeyoutdoor]

My mom had a room like that on a Carnival cruise she took with us last summer (she booked 10 days before the cruise and this is what was left). She ended us liking it because she said it was really quiet up there. She also did not have any problems with the movement of the boat.

[Pam in CA]

This is no tall tale Pam. Our friends that are traveling with us called their TA after we got our cabin assignments and requested their cabin be near us. And 45 minutes later they had a cabin 6 rooms down on the same side. Good TAs will not sit by until Princess "gets around" to making a room assignment. Both the TAs on our trip (different cities, different agencies, absolutely no connection to each other) were pro-active and got us good rooms for our guarantee.

I agree that a good TA can get you a good cabin. It sounds to me from your comments that you booked specific cabins and the TAs were able to coordinate cabins near each other. Yes, that happens often. I have one who gives me great pricing and terrific cabins on Princess. However, when it comes to requesting or getting an "upgrade" from the Princess upgrade fairy, no TA can do that. It sounds like the same thing as what you've described but it's a different situation.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

This is another fallacy. TAs don't assign or get upgrades. If they claim to, then they have taken credit for which it isn't due.

 

We booked our first GTY for our upcoming cruise. When we got our assignment--a five-category upgrade--my TA tried to tell me that SHE got it for us. I politely corrected her and let her know that Princess gave us the upgrade. This girl wasn't born yesterday...well, thanks to CC that is!

 

Also, guarantee cabins within a certain category do not cost more or less than other cabins within the same category. So, not sure what you were referring to when you talked about lower cost of guarantee.

 

Lynda, this is the second time I've seen a post that Princess's GTY cabins aren't less expensive than choosing a particular cabin. I don't understand that. GTY was the only thing available in the BG category for our upcoming cruise and the next category (BF) was $300 more per person. We booked two balcony BG GTYs, saving $1200. What am I missing??

 

Thanks!

Jayne

[Bowie MeMe]

You say that I should have known that guaranteed does not always mean an upgrade but my TA at the time was overly enthusiastic in her sales pitch for an outside cabin. She said "I have never had anyone not get a "substantial" upgrade." That is why I expected the upgrade. She also did not say that the cabin assignment would not be available before we left for Europe. This was a few years ago and on that cruise (3rd of my 16 cruises) about twenty other cabins that I knew of also had no assignment before boarding and they also were very upset. Sometimes this chat room amazes me in that you basically flame me saying I should not "expect an upgrade" and then rush right on to brag about the great upgrades you were given. I guess those of us that got "Nothing" don't write and brag about it.